“And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 77:10 Mean?
Asaph makes a remarkable pivot in the middle of his distress: "And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High." He names his own weakness — "this is my infirmity" — and then redirects himself by choosing to remember God's track record.
The word "infirmity" (challothi) can also be translated as "my affliction" or "my weakness" or even "this is what grieves me." Asaph is acknowledging that his struggle with doubt is itself a form of weakness. He's not excusing it or justifying it — he's labeling it honestly and then choosing a different direction.
"The years of the right hand of the most High" refers to the historical acts of God — the years when His power was visibly at work. Asaph is choosing to access his memory instead of surrendering to his anxiety. The past acts of God become the antidote to present despair.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What 'years of the right hand of the most High' can you remember from your own life?
- 2.How does labeling doubt as 'infirmity' rather than wisdom change how you respond to it?
- 3.What past acts of God's faithfulness are you forgetting in your current struggle?
- 4.How do you practically use memory as a spiritual tool against present despair?
Devotional
"This is my infirmity." Asaph looks at his doubt, his despair, his crisis of faith — and names it: this is weakness. Not wisdom. Not reasonable skepticism. Weakness. And then, with that honest label still hanging in the air, he redirects: but I will remember.
This is one of the most practical spiritual acts in all of Scripture. When your mind is spiraling into doubt, when the present feels overwhelming and the future feels dark — choose to remember. Not positive thinking. Not denial. Active, deliberate recall of what God has done in the past.
Asaph doesn't remember his own achievements or his own strength. He remembers "the years of the right hand of the most High" — seasons when God's power was visibly, undeniably at work. The Exodus. The Red Sea. The provision in the wilderness. Those years happened. They're historical fact. And they're evidence that the God who acted then is the same God who's present now.
Your memory is a spiritual weapon. When doubt tells you God is absent, memory says: remember when He wasn't? When despair says nothing will change, memory says: remember when everything changed? The past acts of God are the evidence your present anxiety doesn't want you to consult.
What years of God's right hand do you need to remember right now?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And I said, this is my infirmity,.... Referring either to what he had said in the preceding verses; and which is to be…
And I said, This is my infirmity - The meaning of this phrase is not, as would appear from our translation, that his…
We have here the lively portraiture of a good man under prevailing melancholy, fallen into and sinking in that horrible…
The history of the past is the most convincing answer to these questions, the best cordial for his fainting spirits. Cp.…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture